Touched By Love
by Just Another Fanatic
Summary: Nova just had a vision of demigods in need. Odessa has been waiting for her quest for years. Kayson can heal injuries with just a touch, but his powers are growing. And Dick, well, he can't figure out why strange monsters keep attacking him and calling him the son of Hades... or why no one else seems to see monsters. If these four don't come together, their lives will be the cost.
1. Chapter 1

**For the full effect, when you get to Nova, say the full names of everyone in her family out loud.**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Players

Kayson chuckled as he placed a bandage on Elijah's knee. There wasn't an 'ouchie' there, but at five, Elijah liked to show his 'war scabs' to his friends at school in the form of bandages... so long as Batman was featured. Granted, neither Elijah nor his twin brother Joseph had so much as a scratch on them, thanks to Kayson's 'gift.'

Kayson was a story. The dyslexic kid that was first in his class, aced health class while never having even paid attention, and spent his down time reading medical journals. He was smart, there was no doubt about it. He just never really did well with the English reading. Part of it was the dyslexia. He couldn't open a book without the letters swirling together and becoming a jumble in his head.

Kayson had solved this problem for all the literature books he was supposed to read with an iPod and a library card with access to all the audiobooks he could want. It was a lot more time consuming than the reading was for all the other students, but considering it cut _his_ time with the literature books in half, it was worth it.

And then there was the _meanings_ of the books and different passages. Kayson never understood that there was any significance to all the reds and greens in Harry Potter. So Harry had green eyes. So Gryffindor's color was red. So what? His friend, Molly, had spent nearly three hours lecturing Kayson to the significance. All Kayson had gotten out of that was that J.K. Rowling needed to use other colors in her books.

"Can I have a bandage too?" Joseph asked as Kayson lifted Elijah off the bathroom counter. "But with Captain 'Merica?"

Kayson sighed and laughed. At least Elijah was consistent in wanting Batman. Joseph's favorite changed from week to week. The week before, it had been _Big Hero Six_. The week before that, he had wanted Olaf. Kayson couldn't keep up, and neither could Anna Lincoln's wallet.

"We have Superman and skin color," Kayson said.

Joseph pouted.

"Come, now, you don't want a bandage," Kayson said. "You didn't even fall."

"Did too," Joseph said. He lifted his sleeve to show a small abrasion on his skin. "Miss Jenny didn't put on a bandage."

Kayson sighed and rubbed his finger over the small scraping of skin, and it was fully healed when he pulled his hand away. "All better?"

Joseph pouted, saddened that he had been denied his 'Captain 'Merica' bandage.

It was Kayson's gift. Healing and health. Kayson never has so much as a sniffle. All he had to do was hold his mom or brothers for an hour and any flu symptoms they had would disappear. He could heal all their scrapes, cuts, and even small burns with a brush of his hand. He'd never tried anything past that, he'd never had to.

As he sent the twins to go play in the playground their apartment complex had provided, though it was in need of repair, the phone rang. Kayson answered it and walked to the kitchen window so he could still keep an eye on his brothers.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kay, glad I caught you," Molly's voice came racing out of the phone. She always spoke fast. "I kind of need your help."

"What happened?" Kayson asked, worry lacing his voice. Molly was rather independent and never asked Kayson for help.

"Okay, so, I have a date tonight with Mark, right?" Molly said.

"You do?" Kayson asked.

"Yes!" Molly seemed rather put off he didn't know. "Not the point. The thing is, I woke up with this monster zip, and I mean monster. So, I popped it. So, now I have a cut on the middle of my forehead."

"And?" Kayson asked.

"Hello, I can't have that while on a date with Mark!" Molly snapped. "Anyway, I'm almost at your place, and all you have to do is fix it."

"Why me?" Kayson asked. Aside from his mother and brothers, Molly was the only one that knew Kayson had his gift.

"I'm sorry, do you know anyone else that can heal a cut with a tap of the finger?" Molly asked.

"No," Kayson said.

"That was hypothetical, Kay," Molly said. He was still at the window when Molly's car came into view. He watched as it drove around the building toward the visitor parking.

"You shouldn't talk on the phone while driving," Kayson said.

"Zit hole, Kay, I don't have time to do those things separately," she said. "I'll be up in a minute."

Molly didn't bother knocking. She saw the twins when she passed them, and knew the door would be open for them. She also knew where Kayson would be.

"See?" Molly asked, walking into the kitchen.

Kayson turned to see Molly. She was slender with thick blonde hair in waves and gorgeous green eyes. Beautiful. It was a wonder that she hadn't stopped talking to him when they hit high school and she had made the cheerleading squad. She went on dates with all the popular jocks, and Kayson had never had a date in his life.

He was tall, but more lanky than lean. He also had short brown hair, kept short because he didn't know how to handle it when it was more than an inch long. Molly had told him a hundred times that without his buddy holly glasses, he'd be cute, with his blue eyes, but Kayson refused to use contacts and he couldn't see well enough without the glasses. As it was, he had hated all other frames that he had tried on.

"Fix it, Kay," Molly said, approaching him.

Kayson sighed and placed his fingers on her forehead, healing the mark. He trailed his fingers down her cheek after he was done, a sign of his feelings for her, though she didn't notice, or didn't care.

"You really do need to update your wardrobe," Molly said. He was wearing worn jeans and a red and blue flannel button-up. Both items had been bought at a thrift shop. "It would really help to get you a date. And then we could go on double dates."

"Um, I don't think dating right now is important," Kayson said. He glanced out the window. "I have one more year here, and then I'm off to Stanford."

"Wouldn't you want to learn how dating actually works before you go to college?" Molly asked. She was shuffling around, but Kayson knew that she would raid his kitchen whether invited to or not. He also knew all her dating mantras, so he figured she was thinking _Don't go on a date hungry, or you'll seem like a pig._

"I think dating changes with age," Kayson said.

"That might be," Molly said. "But you still need to get the awkward part over." He heard the sound or a zipper.

"What are you do- why are you naked?" Kayson couldn't tear his eyes away.

He had always known Molly had a beautiful body, but only because he had seen her in a bikini. It was a huge surprise for him to turn around and see her in her panties and bra. Her bikini had always been modest, not like the lacy light green of her underwear.

"I have to change," Molly said, not even caring that he was staring. She reached into her bag and pulled out a dress. She slipped it easily over her head and down her body. She shook out her hair. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful," Kayson said softly.

Molly smiled her beaming smile. "Thanks," she said. "Can I leave this bag here? I told Mark to pick me up here and I don't feel like storing it in my car."

"Sure," Kayson said.

Molly threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Kay," she said, before her phone buzzed. "Oh, he's here," she said. She turned to leave. "Don't forget me when you're a genius doctor, Kay," she said as a good-bye.

"Never," Kayson replied, and he meant it. And then she was out the door to go on a date with the most popular guy at school.

* * *

"Ready or not, here I come!" Odessa said, taking her hands off her eyes. Hide and seek was always a way to entertain her sisters. All three or them. Odessa was sixteen, older than her oldest sister by eight years.

Meena, Odessa knew, would be hiding in the basement. Only Meena would venture there alone. Which meant that Leela, her seven-year-old sister, and Avani, her five-year-old sister, would be on the same level that she was in. There weren't too many places to hide, but Odessa always tried to find Meena first as Meena didn't cry when she was found.

"Girls, I'm home!" Betty's voice called through the house, ending the game abruptly as Betty had promised they would all help to make a cake for their father.

Odessa laughed as two girls swept past her, their black hair swinging in the braids Odessa had put them in to match her own braid.

"Oh, look at you all," Betty laughed seeing her three daughters and step-daughter all looking similar. Whenever Odessa returned to town, her little sisters insisted that they be just like her. This time, it was slightly baggy pants, black tee (though Odessa's was cropped and theirs weren't) and a long braid down their backs.

Betty, the blonde mother of the three younger girls just smiled and kissed each of their foreheads, and then Odessa's tanner forehead too. She had raised the girl since she was a baby, after all. And was closer to Odessa than her real mother.

The Surichi household was always happiest when Odessa stopped in from her camp. Which happened every birthday, important holiday, and winters when the family traveled to India to visit Sunhil's mother. However, in family pictures, Betty was the one that stood out, pale and blonde, while the other five, four girls and Sunhil, all had black hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin as Sunhil was born and raised in India.

"Thank you so much for watching the girls while I was at the office and store," Betty said to Odessa as the other three girls carried the grocery bags to the kitchen.

"Oh, you know I love to," Odessa said. If Odessa had her way, she'd have five more siblings, but Betty had sworn off any more kids after Avani.

"Mommy!" Leela's voice called from the kitchen. "Meena threw flour at me!"

"Did not!" Meena yelled. Leela met Betty and Odessa half-way to the kitchen, flour in her hair. Meena was right after her, her hands coated in white.

"You really want some of your own someday?" Betty asked, a hint of a joke on her lips.

"No," Odessa said. "I want a _lot_ of my own, not just some."

"Does that mean I'm gonna have a niece?" Meena asked. "When!"

"Not for a while," Betty said. "Your sister is only sixteen."

"In the future," Odessa said.

"Soon?" Leela asked. "I love babies!"

Odessa smiled brightly, causing all anxieties and stress to disappear. "I haven't met the right boy yet, but it'll be at least two years after that."

"Oh, that's too soon," Betty said.

"I hardly ever meet boys, Mom," Odessa said. "So, you've got a few years before you become a grandmother. I'm sure Avani will be ten."

"You'll only be twenty-one, if that's the aim," Betty said. "At least give yourself time to enjoy your twenties."

"Okay, she'll be eleven," Odessa said with a chuckle, and Betty giggled in response. "That way Meena will be old enough to babysit."

"We get to babysit!" Leela asked in joy.

"In six years," Odessa said, but that didn't seem to bother the girls as they began coming up with possible names for their future niece.

* * *

" _Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in,"_ Nova's voice filled the theater of the Jefferson High School talent show. The applause and girls singing along would have made some think they were at a Taylor Swift concert.

As it was, Nova Kane had her own little YouTube channel where she posted covers of songs, as well as Vlog posts on random issues, from world stories to her own life drama. The world knew her stance on Pro-Choice as well as as the fact that her step-father had a cruel sense of humor. The fact that when her mother married him when Nova was only a year old made the two of them go from Candy Patterson and Nova Patterson to Candy Kane and Nova Kane wasn't enough. When Marco Kane had two of his own kids, they were named Sugar and Co.

Nova was glad every day when she woke up and remembered her name wasn't Co Kane. She also felt bad that her lazy half brother was forever going to be made fun of because of his name.

But over the last two years, Nova had disappointed Marco's dream of using her to launch her siblings to fame and fortune. She had broke up their little family band (after all, Co was horrible at the bass and Sugar didn't even like the drums), was determined to not show pictures of them on any of her social media sites, and altogether just didn't mention them.

Of course, on stage singing with her new bandmates, she felt like crying. Not because she hated it, because performing was something she loved, but because the song hit her a little closer to home than she wished. She chose the song weeks ago, because she didn't want to anything that was in the top forty that moment, but still wanted to do Taylor Swift. That morning, her perfect boyfriend, Peter, had broken up with her... again.

Her followers and fans had all given her sympathy, but no one had sad anything bad about him. After all, Peter might as well be called Adonis considering his beautiful face and body.

There was also the matter that they were simply the second half opening act. As the band did play shows for money, they weren't officially allowed to compete for the prize. But, it was the last event for the seniors before graduation and all three of Nova's bandmates were seniors. Luckily, the two going to college were only half an hour away and the third was holding off for a year, so the band wouldn't be dissolved. But Nova no longer had Peter, so it felt like her whole world had died... for the fifth time.

 _"Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground. Oh!"_

After the show, people were congratulating her and praising her. Nova forced a smile, knowing that in a matter of hours she'd be either crying into her pillow or asking Peter what had happened this time. Or rather, who had happened. It was usually a who, until the girl with longer legs really got to know him, at which point he'd slip in next to Nova again.

Nova was just escaping the crowd when she heard a slow, deliberate clap. She turned around and spotted a man mostly in shadow. "Beautiful, as one would expect from the child of Apollo," he said.

Nova reached back, only to remember that she didn't have her quiver with her. She had left it at her house, easily accessible should she be attacked at home. And it would take her too long to pull her guitar out for a sonic guitar attack. So it was just her training and her voice.

"You do not want to mess with me," Nova said, ready to dodge an attack.

The man chuckled and took a step into the light. The mist didn't affect her fully, so he blurred a bit in her vision, partly looking like a man wearing a stuffy gray and brown outfit, partly like a creature with a giant scorpion tail. A manticore. "Don't think you can beat me without your bow, Nova."

"She doesn't," another voice said, and Nova's blue eyes lit up. Behind the man, without either of them noticing, was Peter, slicing off the manticore's scorpion tail. He yelled and spun, but Peter was too fast and his sword was quickly through the body before it turned into gold dust.

"You saved me," Nova said, her eyes teary.

"My duty," Peter said. He approached her and looked into her eyes with his perfect gold eyes. "But it doesn't change anything, Nova."

Nova stared at Peter for a moment. "You just saved my _life,_ " she yelled at him. "Tell me that doesn't mean anything to you."

Peter shrugged his broad shoulders. "Nova, you know I care about you, but that's just my job. It's the only reason the Legion allows me to live outside of New Rome, if I kill all monsters on sight." He twisted the pommel of his sword and it shrank into a golden comb. He quickly ran it through his hair, not that it had gotten messed up. "I wish I could say otherwise, but I'm into someone else."

Nova deflated as he walked away. That was one quality she loved about him. He didn't cheat.

"I still love you!" Nova yelled at him.

He turned to her, too far to make out the sparkle in his eyes. But he didn't respond. He was gone a moment later.

Nova crouched and began to cry into her hands. At least, she knew, she'd be back at camp soon and it would occupy her enough that she wouldn't have time to dwell over Peter.

* * *

Dick stared at his coach. Basketball season was long over, but his coach was telling him when to show up to school, over his summer break, for training and conditioning, as well how many miles he was supposed to run each week.

He doubted he would. After all, Dick wasn't even sure he'd be remaining in school. He had gotten a job waiting tables on weekends, and he knew that if he worked full time, he'd end up making more money than several of his teachers when tips were added in.

And, to top it off, he had a fake ID and could probably get a second job as a bartender. He didn't drink, but he could make mixed drinks.

"Do you understand me?" Coach Wallace asked.

"I understand you," Dick said. "But it's not happening. I'm not spending my summer running myself ragged."

"Do you want a spot on varsity next year?" Coach Wallace's face began to turn red.

"Are you saying you'd cut your best player because he didn't run a marathon over the summer? Because, I can tell you, that would be your mistake." Dick gave his coach a smirk before turning around. The last bell of the school year was about to ring, and he didn't want to spend another moment there.

"If you don't show up to conditioning, don't bother coming to try-outs," Coach Wallace said.

"Whatever, _Coach_ ," Dick said and walked out. He knew that it didn't matter. Dick wasn't just the best player on the team, he was the team. Dick always was the highest scorer, and he had never lost a game. However, due to his dyslexia and how school never held his attention, he often didn't have high enough grades to participate in games, and when he wasn't on the court, the team lost.

Within an hour of summer break starting, Dick found himself at work. He easily dodged through the other waiters and guests, carrying a large tray of food. A table of four girls had all ordered appetizers as their meals. It happened in his section rather often, which annoyed him, because that meant lower tips, but it also happened often enough that he had collected a number of cell numbers and more than enough dates over the past few months.

"When does your shift end?" one girl asked, spinning her red curls around her finger. Dick smiled at her, noticing her skimpy top and pouted lips. Oh, he could have a lot of fun with her.

"I have my meal break in five minutes," he said.

She smiled, showing her white, and surprisingly sharp teeth. "Perfect," she said. "I'll meet you in the alley then?"

"Five minutes," he said.

He walked back to the kitchen, making sure that he had no more tables to tend to, before taking off his apron and hanging it on his hook. After all, there was a beautiful girl waiting for him in the alley.

"What's your name?" she asked, as he got there. She was leaning against the wall, still curling her finger in her hair.

"Dick," He said, before bending forward and pressing his lips to hers. He grabbed her waist and pulled her body against his. Her fingers slipped into his hair, and he was quite enjoying himself until she bit his lip.

Dick pulled back and tasted a little blood, as her teeth had actually ripped his lip open. He looked at her, suddenly seeing her image flicker a bit before his eyes. Fire in her hair. Mismatched legs. Dick let her go, but she had a hold on his hair.

"What's wrong, Dick?" Trying to pull him forward as her image flickered again. Dick pushed her against the brick wall, hard, what would hurt most girls, but she just chuckled. He did it again, harder, enough so that she released his hair.

He stumbled backwards. "What are you?"

"Your end," she simply laughed. She took a step toward him, her heel clacking sounding more like a hoof than a show. The next step sounded like metal hitting concrete. He took a few more steps back until his back hit a wall. Something was very wrong with her.

His hand found a trashcan, and in it, what felt like a hilt of some sort. He pulled it out, hoping it would be a weapon of some sort, but instead found a flashlight. She laughed, but it would have to do.

He pressed the button, hoping to catch her off guard by shining light into her eyes.

Instead, a dark colored metal shot out the top, forming into a long, thin blade. The girl's eyes flashed and the curling, fiery colored hair turned into real fire. "Do you even know how to use that?" she asked with a small cackle.

"Of course I do," Dick said. He charged forward, dodged her claws as best he could, and shoved the blade into her heart. "Stick them with the pointy end," he said close to her ear as she turned to dust.

"I'll get you some day," she whispered before she was fully gone.

Dick breathed deeply, before looking at the short sword in his hand. It felt completely right to be in his hand. The hilt looked like that of a sword, but it had a small button. When he pressed the button, it turned back into a flashlight.

Whoever had thrown that sword out had to be whack, he decided.

He moved to put the flashlight into his pocket, and winced, realizing that there were a few deep scratches on his arm. He'd have to clean and bandage those before his break was over.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter. Hope you enjoy and review. I had to do a little editing in the last part because we meet Apollo. I haven't finished the new book by Riordan yet, but seeing as Apollo has a punishment, I had to make an adjustment.**

 **Also, I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but this takes place in a future, so aside from gods, Chiron, and Rachel, there are no cannon characters.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Summer Vacation Begins

Nova took a deep breath before crossing over the threshold of the camp. She stood at the top of Half-Blood Hill looking nothing like the experienced camper she was. Down below, she saw younger Half-Bloods running around, wearing jeans or shorts, sneakers, and, of course, there was a sea of orange shirts.

Nova, however, wore knee high black wedged boots over her grey skinny jeans, a loose white button-up shirt, long sleeves, and a thin waist belt to show off her skinny waist. Her hair was in perfect Taylor Swift waves, and she had lined and mascaraed her eyes for them to pop, blushed her cheeks for the perfect color, and glossed her lips with a little tint.

She dragged her duffle behind her as she made her way down the hill, while she held her guitar by the case handle in her left hand. Her quiver was slung over her shoulder, bow stored in it. To mortals, it looked like a cute black leather backpack.

Some campers could bound up and down the hill at near super-speed (though in the case of the Hermes kids, it was literal super-speed), but Nova kept her pace slow. Partly because she didn't want to seem like a crazy kid while speeding up and down the hill, but mostly because going down the hill with bags was hard enough, not to mention her shoes were not made for hill climbing. Anyway, she was in no hurry to get to camp. She knew someone would ask about Peter, and she didn't want to explain that he had left her, again.

"Nova!" a voice called from among the campers, and suddenly, a dark-haired tanned girl broke from the group and bounded up the hill toward her. Odessa wrapped her skinny arms around Nova tightly, and had she been any other camper, Nova would have rolled her eyes. But Nova loved Odessa like a sister... in fact, Nova liked Odessa better than any of her actual siblings, mortal or godly.

Granted, dropping her things and falling to the ground wasn't how Nova wanted to start her summer.

"I have missed you!" Odessa said, sitting back on her heels.

"I've missed you too, Dessa," Nova said. She looked Odessa over, and it was as if nothing had changed. Odessa was still short, shorter than some of the twelve-year-olds. Eyes still sparkling with curiosity. And still smiling as always.

Nova had never seen Odessa not smiling, from the day Odessa was brought to camp and Nova had been assigned the task of showing her around. She had heard of what had happened at Odessa's school, the incident which had brought Odessa to be discovered despite her blood being that of such a minor goddess, but Odessa had been too filled with wonderment to even think about the incident.

"Your hair is blonde!" Odessa cried.

"You already knew this," Nova said.

"I know, but it has a red tinge and the bottom is nearly platinum," Odessa said. She threw her arms around Nova again.

"Of course my hair has a red tinge," Nova said with a sigh. "My hair is naturally red."

Odessa giggled, causing Nova to giggle. That's how it worked with a daughter of Iambe like Odessa. A smile made others smile, a laugh made others laugh, and her happiness and joy spread like wildfire.

In all of Odessa's life, she had only experienced true sadness once, when she was eleven and there was a hit and run at her school. Her friend had been nearly killed, and Odessa's sadness was over-whelming and came off her in waves, and everyone, already shocked and scared, became nearly heart-broken. Chaos had erupted and the Mist nearly broke, attracting all sorts of monsters.

Luckily for Odessa, she lived in Brooklyn, so the demigods of Camp Half-Blood were able to arrive, save her, and defeat the monsters before she could be killed. Nova hadn't gone on that mission, as she had only been twelve, but she and Odessa were still a good match for best friends.

It was why Nova looked forward to the Summer two days into the school year. After spending a full ten weeks with Odessa every summer, she was happy and joyful. She forgot about Peter, and she wrote a few songs that only her cat would ever hear. Every summer, she jammed with her siblings, other children of Apollo. She got love advice from the children of Aphrodite. A child of Poseidon had taught her how to swim her first summer. Children of Athena helped her learn ways to study despite the dyslexia so that her mother would allow her to perform. Camp was a safe haven for her, not just from monsters, but from the regular things teenagers went through in life.

"So, how are you going to vlog here with no good electronics?" Odessa asked.

"Oh, come now, like we can't charm a few boys from the shop," Nova said. "We know where Bunker Nine is and we're not afraid to go there."

Odessa giggled and nodded. "Onward!" Odessa cried out, pointing forward.

* * *

"Kayson!" Anna Lincoln cried out opening the door to her son's room to find him slumped over on his bed, book in his lap. His glasses were askew on his face and he had been breathing slowly. At the cry of his mother's voice, he jerked up, his glasses falling off. He grabbed them and shoved them back on, before noticing his mother in the doorway.

"What?" he asked.

"It's ten thirty!" Anna snapped.

Kayson blinked, then took off his glasses to rub his eyes for a moment. "It's summer break, Mom," he said.

"I know," Anna said. "But you are not spending this summer the same way you did last year, bemoaning after Molly, sitting in this room and reading medical manuals. You can read all of those you want when you're premed and in school. Enjoy the last summer of high school, Kayson."

Kayson closed the book, but kept his finger in it to mark his page. "Tell me who my dad is."

Anna's shoulders dropped. It wasn't the first time he had asked about his father, but she was insistent that she would never tell him. He did love and respect his mother, but she had three sons and no man. The twins' father was a bum, but at least he paid child support. But there was never support from Kayson's father.

"You don't need to know," Anna said. "He was a good man, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"At least tell me where you met him, where he lives," Kayson said.

Anna looked at her son for a moment. "Greece," she said. "I met him in Greece."

"And his name?" Kayson asked.

Anna sighed. "I called him Ask," she said. "Now," she pointed toward the door. "Go shower and then do something. We have a pool in the community. Go swimming. Heck, go read by the pool for all I care, just get out of this apartment."

An hour later had Kayson at the local library on a computer. When he typed in "Ask Greece" he got pages upon pages of travel sites and suggestions. He sighed after his fifteenth page. So, he decided to change the 'K' to 'C' and this gave him very different results. On the second page, he came to a Wikipedia entry called the 'Rod of Asclepius.'

Of course, as interested in medicine as he was, he clicked on the site, just to read a little about the symbolism. He then clicked the link to Asclepius.

Kayson stared at the computer after reading about Asclepius. He wondered, was it possible that his father was a god. For the most part, Kayson was a man of science. But, he also knew that there was something else, after all, he could heal small injuries with just a touch. With two five-year-old brothers, he did it every day.

After a few moments, Kayson laughed. What was he thinking? There had to be some explanation to his powers, but it wasn't that.

So, Kayson returned to his original search, not coming up with any new theories after an hour of searching.

Kayson decided to head home. Maybe he would sit outside the apartment pool and read a book. He could even take the twins with him and teach them to swim if he felt bold when he got home.

"Kay!" Molly's voice rang out a block away from the library.

Kayson turned around to see her and smiled, noticing her bikini strings sticking out from under her tube dress. She came trotting over to him carefully in her heeled sandals.

When she got to him, he could tell that she had been crying, though only the very trained eye could see it. She had covered it very well, but Kayson had known her long enough to see it. But, she was smiling and out of her house, so whatever had happened, she had chosen to forget it.

"How was the date?" Kayson asked, even though he knew he was dooming himself. If Mark had been the one to make her cry, he'd be the supportive shoulder to lean on for the next hour. If not, he'd have to hear her squeal about all the things he did right.

Instead, she rolled her beautiful eyes. "I do _nawt_ want to talk about _Mark,_ " she insisted. She smiled and poked his chest. "Let's talk about _you_."

Kayson felt his cheeks grow hot and his eyes got wide. "M- _me?_ " he asked. She nodded enthusiastically. "I'm, you know everything there is to know about me."

She reached up and took his glasses, and his vision blurred slightly. Not enough, however, to truly block out what he was seeing. She slipped the glasses onto her face and then looked around. "Your vision isn't that bad, Kay," she said.

"Molly, can I have my glasses back?" Kayson asked. "They're not exactly cheap, you know."

She turned around and slipped the glasses down and looked at him over the frame. He briefly had a sexy librarian thought. "Are you sure that's what you want, Kayson Lincoln?"

"I kind of need them to see," Kayson said.

She smiled and backed up a few steps. "Then come get them," she said and turned around. She slipped out of her sandals and ran barefoot down the block.

Kayson sighed and picked up her shoes before chasing after her. "Seriously, Molly," he called after her as she turned to look at him.

He ended up chasing her half way to her house before he had to stop to catch his breath. He was not used to running, and certainly not when he kept remembering her the day before in just her underwear which was sending some of his blood to the wrong part of his body for running.

She looked back at him and laughed. "You're gonna have to run faster than that!" she called to him before she turned a corner. Kayson sighed and concentrated on moving his legs faster. However, when he turned the corner, it took him a moment to find her.

His legs took him faster than ever as he ran to her side. "Molly!" he gasped, dropping to his knees.

"It hurts," she said, her hand on her side.

"What happened?" Kayson asked. He lightly took her hand and moved it. She didn't look at him. "Let me see, Molly," he said. "I can't help unless I know what's wrong."

Molly nodded, but instead, worked to stand. "Not here," she said, indicating to the fact that she was in a dress. Instead, Kayson helped her back to her house, only a block away.

She took off her dress, leaving her in her bikini. There was a large bruise, and Kayson knew it probably came from a fist hitting her side. It was over her lowest ribs, which made Kayson think that it had to be a cracked rib.

He had never healed a broken bone before.

A quick, gentle swipe of his fingers healed the bruise and tenderness of the bruise. "Does it still hurt?"

Molly nodded, a few tears dripping from her eyes.

Kayson took a breath and placed his hand over where the bruise had been. He concentrated, and then he felt a warmth from his hand, and a sudden pain in his side. Molly gasped.

"Kay!" she cried out. "It... it feels all better! And did you see? Your hand, it glowed!" She threw her arms around him in a hug. Kayson yelped.

"Oh my god! What happened?"

"I think I healed you by taking the injury on myself," Kayson said.

Molly gasped. "No! Give it back, then," she said. "You shouldn't have to suffer my injury."

"I can't give it back," Kayson said. He stared Molly in the eye. "What happened?"

She looked away. "Mark hit me," she said. "I didn't like how the night was going, so I left and he followed and punched me." She looked Kayson again. "You should not have to suffer for me."

"Promise me you'll never see him again and we'll call it even," Kayson said.

Molly shook her head. "No, I still owe you. Kay," she said. She then leaned over and kissed him quickly on the lips. "So, once you're better, we'll do something. Your pick."

Kayson smiled. "Yeah," he said. "Okay, I'll come up with something. In the mean time, I think I should head home. My mom might be worried." He stood up, wincing a bit. He never had a serious injury before, so it was a new experience, pain that didn't immediately fade. He wasn't a fan.

* * *

Dick rolled his shoulders as he got ready for the second half of his shift. Saturdays were the busy day, and he always worked nine hour shifts, and that didn't include his required meal half way through. Eleven to nine, and then he'd go out and party.

He didn't know why he was surprised to be greeted by the lady-monster's friends. After having stuck a magical sword in her, he thought he'd never have to deal with her again, and yet he had forgotten she had three friends with her.

"So, are you girls here to kill me as well?" Dick asked, pulling out his notepad. The flashlight was in his pocket, just in case.

He had spent a good deal of the night before trying to figure out how it worked. He had taken the flashlight apart, but it seemed to be totally normal. Batteries, bulb, tube... and no sword inside it. Yet every time he pressed the button, a sword popped out. Unless he simply held the button down. That's when it would shine like a flashlight.

He decided it was magical.

There was, after all, no other explanation for it.

"Oh, how did you know?" one girl asked. "It's not every day a girl gets to kill the son of the God of the Underworld. Your father misses you very much, and we're just here to send you to him."

Dick took a step back. As far as he knew, is father died in the Middle East while his mother was still pregnant with him. And she had just mentioned the underworld, though she also mentioned the word 'god', and not in the Christian sense.

"Unfortunately, I don't have time tonight," Dick said. He gave them a cheeky smile. "So, what can I get you ladies tonight?"

"Half-blood steak," one said.

Dick blinked a few times. "Half-blood..."

The three girls laughed. "He doesn't even know what he is," one said. "Classic."

"Don't they have a new rule?"

"Oh, like Hades was ever a stickler for the rules."

Dick closed his order pad. "Well, I'll just let you decide among yourselves what you want and come back in a bit," he said.

It didn't seem that the girls would take that, as one jumped up and at him. Immediately, her hair set to fire, and she became a hideous creature with one donkey leg and one bronze leg.

People began to scream and scramble from where they were seated. In the panic, Dick grabbed a serving tray and whacked the girl upside the head with it. A steaming hot chocolate became a weapon against the second, and by the third, he had pulled out his flashlight. She laughed and charged, but was unable to dodge when he activated his sword.

He was shocked when one jumped onto his back, but he purposely jumped onto a table, causing her to scream and release him. Before the two remaining could react, he was dodging into the escaping crowd, and then filing in with a crowd of people into an El station. He sighed and took a seat on the train as it sped him towards his home. Suddenly, everything he saw seemed foreign and he knew his life had changed forever.

* * *

Odessa woke up in a cold sweat and in fear. She looked around to see she was still in her tent. Because she was the only child of Iambe, she had been given a choice. Build a cabin (of course, others would help her), stay with the children of Hermes (but after her first summer, most of her possessions had disappeared), or stay in a tent. She chose the third after her first year, though she was slowly building a more permanent place as she had started staying there most of the year. She only went back home for birthdays.

Sometimes Nova stayed with her, and it happened to be one of those nights. Nova always slept fitfully. As the child of Apollo, she sometimes had prophetic dreams. It was a rare ability, and very different from the Oracle's prophecies. Instead, she saw flashes of things, most of it jumbled that she couldn't make heads or tails of it, just suffer.

Odessa's fretful dreams, however, were not prophetic. Hers were always about the exact same event. A black sedan speeding down a street, swerving to avoid cars. The screams as it hit a young girl, one of Odessa's friends. The police didn't see the girl go down, didn't stop to help her. Odessa's scream and despair had been so strong that people down the block began weeping for no reason at all.

The monsters could smell her from miles away.

It was the same day that Odessa met Nova, hours later, once her friend's life had been rescued by one of Nova's siblings and a hymn to Apollo.

Odessa smirked, realizing her dream usually went on longer, and peeked her head out of the tent to see a red-headed boy trying to sneak to a different cabin. Finn Aisling, son of Morpheus, who Odessa had a small crush on. "Thanks, Finn," she said, feeling a little heat in her cheeks. During summer, he tended to be the one that went around and saved people from nightmares, specifically his cousin on his mortal side, daughter of Hades, who was only eight but had already been through too much.

Nova whimpered, shaking her head, so Odessa tried to wake up up. She knelt next to her friend and shook her shoulder. "Nova," she said quietly. She had to be gentle, because it was not uncommon for a camper to wake up wielding a weapon.

Granted, Nova's weapon was the bow and arrow. Odessa's eyes landed on Nova's quiver and moved it out of Nova's reach and tried again. "Nova!" Odessa said, a little more strength in her voice.

Nova gasped, her eyes snapping open as she sat up. She looked around and spotted Odessa. She sighed and fell back down. "Sorry," she said. Her eyes slid to Odessa and Odessa smiled down at her. "Was I that loud?"

"No, not really," Odessa said. "But you seemed sad." She smiled, her powers making Nova smile as well. "Wanna talk about it?"

Nova rolled her eyes, but was still smiling. "I saw mostly two guys. One did not seem to be a Half-Blood even. The other, he was fighting a few empousi. He barely escaped... and it was weird. I saw it all through their eyes."

"Maybe you should talk to Chiron," Odessa said. "They might need our help."

"We know nothing about them," Nova said. She shrugged. "What help can we be?"

"We can't help if we don't try," Odessa said, bright look in her eyes.

Nova sighed and nodded. "Let's go before I forget what I saw."

Ten minutes later had the two sitting in the Big House War Council room, each of them holding a steaming cup of hot cocoa that Apollo had conjured up. After his trials as a mortal and gaining his godhood back, Apollo tended to visit the camp often, to both check up on his children and help supervise certain camp activities. All the campers were happy for it. That was, all but the children of Apollo. For Nova it was especially awkward, as a lot of the girl campers that weren't children of Apollo tended to have huge crushes on the god, as he did tend to look like a very good-looking eighteen-year-old. Odessa felt her cheeks flushing sitting with him as she sipped the hot cocoa.

"How are you, my daughter?" Apollo asked as they were waiting for Chiron. "Are you still dating that nasty Roman?"

"We've made peace with the Romans," Nova said. Odessa noticed that Nova never called him 'Dad.' Nor did she call him 'Apollo.' In fact, Odessa had never heard Nova address Apollo by anything. "Years and years ago."

"That doesn't answer my question," Apollo said and smiled. Odessa felt her cheeks get darker.

"We broke up," Nova said, averting her eyes. "Thank you for reminding me."

"Oh, shall I smite him?" Apollo asked.

"Not unless you want to start another war," Nova said. "So, please, don't."

There was a cough and they all turned to see Chiron walk in, in Centaur form. He turned to Nova. Rachel Dare walked in behind him and took a seat across from the two. "Please," Chiron said. "Tell us what you saw, Nova."

Nova sighed. "Well, I saw everything from their eyes," she said. She shook her head. "It's already fading."

"Do you mind?" Rachel asked, holding her arms over the table, palms up. Even though she was approaching her forties, Rachel Dare still looked very good.

Nova took a breath and then rested her hands on Rachel's hands. Odessa kept a close eye on her friend. Suddenly, Rachel's eyes began to glow green.

 _"Two Half-Bloods will take the quest,  
To the heartland they face the test.  
Ride to destiny in the trains above  
But beware the one touched by love."_

Rachel slouched, a cold sweat on her forehead.

"I think that it is obvious who needs to take this quest," Chiron said.

"Can we break down this prophecy before we go?" Nova asked.

Odessa, however, was smiling. "Nova! We got a quest! You and me!"

Nova smiled back. In fact, Odessa noted that the whole room smiled with them. And, that smile just made Apollo look a little better in Odessa's eyes.

"But, onto the words," Nova said. "Okay, first line, _Two Half-Bloods will take the quest_ , which is actually rather cut and dry." She looked over at Chiron. "Is there any other way to interpret that than straight on?"

Chiron shook his head. "That seems clear," he said. "The second line, however, _To the heartland they face the test,_ poses a few more problems."

"Like, which heartland it refers to," Apollo said.

"There are multiple heartlands?" Odessa asked.

"The heartland of this country," Chiron said, "And the heartland where we originate from. Greece."

"Oh, and Memphis," Odessa said brightly. She received a few stares. "You know, that song by Paul Simon..."

"That's Graceland, honey," Nova said.

"But, don't forget the prophecy also speaks of love," Rachel said. "So it may tie into that."

"And what is the test?" Nova asked.

"Maybe it's the test of saving the Half-Bloods from your visions," Odessa said, turning to Nova.

"Who knows?" Nova asked, visibly deflating.

"Okay, what are these trains above?" Odessa asked, changing the topic. "Are there trains in Olympus?"

"Your quest doesn't have you going to Olympus," Chiron assured the girl.

"It's _Ride to destiny in the trains above,_ " Nova said. "Trains above could be a metaphor for something, right?"

"Trains above could refer to planes," Rachel said.

"Or the wind court," Apollo said. "If there are trains there."

"The final line is the one that troubles me," Chiron said. " _But beware the one touched by love._ "


End file.
